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Mike Harris, of Fontana, left, applies for a personal home cultivation permit through Fontana Assistant Planner Ivan Galeazzi in Fontana on Thursday, November 8, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Mike Harris held a sheet of paper as he posed for photos in front of Fontana City Hall.

The paper was proof that Harris had applied for a city permit to grow six marijuana plants in his home. And that he’d done so without paying a huge fee, letting city inspectors search his home or agreeing to any of the other terms Fontana has, until recently, tried to impose on residents who want to grow cannabis for personal use as permitted under state law.

Harris believed Fontana’s rules about personal marijuana cultivation were excessive, and he took the city to court to make his case. This month, he won that suit — a legal victory that could affect marijuana consumers throughout California.

Harris’ suit was the first legal test of how far cities can go when regulating residents’ rights to use and grow recreational marijuana, rights granted in 2016 when voters passed Proposition 64.

The ruling could have implications for other California cities as well. Strict and expensive cultivation ordinances similar to Fontana’s remain in place in cities such as Colton and San Bernardino, and even stricter policies are on the books in La Canada Flintridge, Rancho Palos Verdes and other communities.

“The ruling is important because it reaffirms that Proposition 64 is the law in California,” said Jolene Forman, an attorney with Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group that helped represent Harris in the case.

Some of those cities make applicants submit notarized forms and scaled site plan drawings, and pay fees that average $281.

Harris and others argue that the rules in some cities are so strict that they essentially wipe out Prop. 64.

Fontana has long been home for Harris, a retired iron worker who suffered a hip injury that led to replacement surgery in 2010. When he found that he was “liking the opioids a little too much,” Harris said he turned to medical marijuana to manage his pain.

Mike Harris, of Fontana, left, applies for a personal home cultivation permit through Fontana Assistant Planner Ivan Galeazzi in Fontana on Thursday, November 8, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Mike Harris, of Fontana, applies for a personal home cultivation permit through Fontana Assistant Planner Ivan Galeazzi in Fontana on Thursday, November 8, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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Mike Harris, of Fontana, leaves after applying for a personal home cultivation permit through the City of planning office in Fontana on Thursday, November 8, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Mike Harris, of Fontana, arrives to apply for a personal home cultivation permit through the City of Fontana planning office on Thursday, November 8, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Mike Harris, of Fontana, applies for a personal home cultivation permit through Fontana Assistant Planner Ivan Galeazzi in Fontana on Thursday, November 8, 2018. (Photo by Stan Lim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

It worked, he said. But Harris saw his favorite Riverside dispensary shut down and people he knew arrested. So he was glad to see Prop. 64 pass, hopeful it would give everyone reliable access to store-bought or home-grown marijuana.

Harris’ enthusiasm was dampened when he saw Fontana’s ordinance.

The city’s policy required residents to pay for background checks. It automatically blocked applications from people who owed the city any fees, or who had recent felony drug convictions. It allowed for home searches by city officials, and it required the applicant to pay a fee of $411 — nearly double the state average.

“I really felt like they were violating my rights,” Harris said.

In June 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union and Drug Policy Alliance sued Fontana on behalf of Harris, claiming city policies violated state law by banning entire classes of people from growing marijuana.

San Bernardino Superior Court Judge David Cohn agreed, stating in his Nov. 2 ruling that “the city of Fontana has gone too far.”

“While many of the provisions in the ordinance are reasonable,” Cohn wrote, “the effect of the ordinance as a whole is not to regulate cannabis cultivation for personal use but to stamp it out entirely.”

Cohn struck down major portions of the ordinance, including the ban on people with felonies or unpaid city fees. He also rejected rules requiring home inspections and a room devoted to growing the six plants, which Cohn said “removes all but the wealthiest Fontana residents from obtaining a permit.”

Cohn also said the $411 fee is no longer justified since the city can’t require home inspections and other processing steps.

Fontana can appeal the ruling. For now, a city spokeswoman said via email, city staff will work on new rules. “We will assess our ordinance based upon the court’s decision and bring back a modified ordinance to the city council for consideration at a later date.”

Colton officials said they’re also evaluating the recent decision, but refused to comment further.

After nearly two years of legal wrangling, Harris is done waiting.

With a shirt covered in pictures of sliced avocados and admittedly sweaty palms, he went to city hall Thursday to file a one-page cultivation application drafted by his legal team. Attached was Cohn’s ruling.

City workers scrambled, since they didn’t know how to proceed after the court ruling. But they eventually took his application, which they have to approve or deny within 30 days.

“They say you can’t fight city hall,” Harris said, a smile spreading across his face.

Brooke Edwards Staggs is a general assignment reporter with a focus on covering the politics, business, health and culture of cannabis. Journalism has led Staggs to a manhunt in Las Vegas, a zero gravity flight over Queens and a fishing village in Ghana. The Big Bear native is addicted to education. She earned her bachelors degree in English from California Baptist University, then got her master's in education as she taught high school English in the Inland Empire. After four years in the classroom, she left in 2006 to be a student again herself, earning a masters degree in journalism from New York University while interning and freelancing for a variety of publications. She sees journalism as another form of teaching, helping readers make informed decisions and better understand the world around them. Staggs spent five years as a staff writer then city editor at the Daily Press in Victorville. She won several awards for her work there, including best breaking news story from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for her tale of a teen who shot his father in a hunting accident. She joined the Orange County Register in January 2013, covering several south Orange County communities and the city of Tustin before taking on the marijuana beat in February 2016. On occasion, she also teaches community college and ghostwrites nonfiction books. Staggs loves dancing and new adventures. She hates water slides and injustice. If she doesn’t get right back to you, there’s a good chance she’s sitting with her DJ husband on a plane or train or boat destined for somewhere – anywhere – they’ve never been.